Follow on Twitter please: @rgroveslaw. I am the Director of the Business Law Program at Florida Coastal School of Law, which includes sports law issues. But before becoming an attorney I had a mother and father too. I was fortunate because if they gave me a penny I would owe them change. I became a tax judge and split the baby on occasion but tried most to be fair. After deciding I would rather be inspired to work harder and trust the journey than be uninspired and not work as hard, I went into private practice and became an equity partner of Howard & Howard Attorneys P.C., and counsel to Lewis & Munday, PC. I've represented multi-national corporations in multi-million dollar transactions and high profile entertainers in business and tax matters. Passion continues to be the plasma of progression as now I hope to share how good the profession can be to the new generation of counsel. So now I am a law professor, teaching business entities, securities, international business transactions, and the business side of sports. The passion includes writing. I authored a book, "Innocence in the Red Zone" regarding a client and former Michigan State head football coach Bobby Williams and several other articles regarding business, tax, and entrepreneurship. But my deepest passion - beyond family, is musical. I played piano for Magic Johnson's wedding, opened for Stevie Wonder, had a song recorded by Jerry Butler, and wrote a book about playing piano by ear with a soulful style - all eclipsed by writing songs for one's own wedding.

When Baltimore Raven star running back responded to his now-wife’s spitting at him with an uppercut that knocked her unconscious, the NFL gave him a 2-game suspension. Women and those sensitive to the plague of domestic violence were outraged and alienated. The NFL has been playing defense ever since.

When Stephen A. Smith, former college basketball player turned ESPN superstar, unartfully and with a heavy dose of insensitivity said Rice was “provoked”, those same above-noted constituencies said Smith impliedly blamed the victim and attempted to partially exonerate Rice. Worse than the NFL judgment, ESPN initially did not suspend Smith at all. They too played defense until they eventually gave Smith a 1-week suspension.

In both of these very recent incidences, the employer has been courting women to grow the fan base. In both cases, an incident gave them an opportunity to show what they valued by repudiating the bad acts. In both incidences, the employer lacked the cultural competence to understand the gravity and impact of domestic violence (and the “P” word) on the very constituencies they are courting.

It is no coincidence that in the midst of this controversy, NBA players just decided to select Michele Roberts as the first woman to head a men’s pro sports union in North America. Against a slate of men, she received 32 of 36 votes from player representatives and executive committee members.Michele Roberts, New NBPA Executive Director

The election was in Las Vegas. But it was less of a gamble than the status quo criteria of a guys-only-need-apply. The reason she’s the new executive director is not just because she is a woman. As with any qualitative decision, there are several factors carefully considered.

Roberts is also an African American woman from the Bronx projects. What is unstated, but convincing to the player reps and the executive committee is that a woman can understand the culture of NBA players too. I’ve heard coaches at some of the premier college football programs talk privately about what their players need most to keep them on top. Many of the most impactful players are African American males. These coaches I reference are closest to the players on the staff. They say many of those players don’t just need a guy coach, or an African American male mentor. The coaches realize that during tough times, these young men reach back for those who helped them most while trying to grow up – a strong woman. The vessel was often a mother, a grandmother, or perhaps a sister. But they laid down the law in a way the players value.

Of course, the NBA players are grown men beyond adolescence. But they are not too far removed to remember the value of such women. I understand Michele Roberts has that kind of earthy charisma, that kind of Bronx-hewn street savvy that players recognize as part of the competence quotient not measured by a traditional white collar professional yardstick.

I saved the best part of the multi-pronged rationale for last. It’s not just about the cultural competence and culture connectivity. It’s also about negotiating skills and just plain smarts at a high level. Roberts is a trial lawyer in the Washington DC office of one of the world’s premier law firms, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom. The firm has been outside counsel to the NBA. Roberts received a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

But then she had an atypical yet insightful trajectory.There are many lawyers to start their legal career as public defenders. They defend poor criminal defendants. Assumptions abound that such public defenders cannot crack the starting lineup of the lawyer game. The lawyer who stuttered his way through an opening argument in My Cousin Vinnie comes to mind.

But then comes the best proof of someone who has special talent. How many public defenders end up being selected by one of the most exclusive multi-national tall cotton law firms in the world?More precisely, what caused Skadden Arps, who each year has its pick of top candidates from top law schools, to defy the stereotypes associated with this former public defender? The answer is not public information. My bet is that the firm was savvy enough to see those same Bronx project negotiating skills, her same ability to navigate issues in parallel universes without blinking.

The real point is that the NBA union recognized that this kind of futuristic competence is important enough to be part of its mission and value system. It is not enough to create yet another fringe diversity or gender equity committee.

The real point also includes the union’s realization that its leader should play offense not defense on a trilogy of sensitive issues: the cultural baggage of “macho” men relative to women, the unspoken translation required for these primarily African American players and women as part of that economic growth model, and the need for a skilled negotiator for the 2017 collective bargaining agreement discussions.

When it’s time to negotiate the CBA, the NBA and the players union will compete for the affection of the public and TV networks. Every league and union plays that same game. The smart negotiators always seem to start the goodwill game early. The NBA’s new head man, Adam Silver, has already done it with the strong rebuke and defrocking of LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling for his racist comments that offended most of the game’s constituencies. Now the union hopes its counter move is not a pawn but a King who happens to be a woman in the chess match.

In a press conference, Roberts’ reported comments are also insightful. She knows her gender was a factor:

“Let’s be clear: I’m sure there were people that noticed I was a girl,”

But the final decision was not so shallow as to stop there. This was not yet another token selection by those who lack the insight to make a wise decision in this era of the New Age Athlete. In Roberts’ own words:

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